Emma Sleep

Emma Sleep is a Germany-based sleep-products company headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. It sells mattresses, beds, pillows, duvets, and other bedroom products under the Emma brand. The business was founded in 2013 as Bettzeit GmbH by Dennis Schmoltzi and Manuel Müller. The Emma trademark was registered in 2015, and the Emma mattress was developed as a direct-to-consumer offering using an “one-fits-all” concept intended to suit different body types. The company began as an online mattress retailer and later concentrated its activity and marketing on Emma and other sleep brands. It moved beyond online-only sales into physical retail in 2017, with Emma mattresses offered through retail partners. The Dormando online shop was discontinued in 2019. In 2020, Bettzeit GmbH adopted the Emma Sleep name. The founders sold a majority stake to Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH that year and remained involved in the business; later, they sold a further portion of their holdings. Emma presents itself as an international sleep brand. Its US website promotes free shipping and returns, a 100-night home trial, and a 10-year mattress warranty, and states that more than 14 million sleepers have trusted its products globally. The company’s German-language entry describes a wider product range and international retail presence, including stores in Manila, Lisbon, Shanghai, and Mexico City. Its products are sold through online channels and retail partners, and the company says that products are developed and, for the most part, manufactured in Germany. The company has also faced customer-service and delivery criticism in Germany and France, as described in the supplied German-language reference. That reference reports that the French consumer organization UFC-Que Choisir reinstated Emma in its tests in March 2025 after complaints had fallen. Emma remains an active brand with an international product and retail presence.

Emma Sleep traces its origins to Bettzeit GmbH, founded in 2013 by Dennis Schmoltzi and Manuel Müller. The founders initially operated Dormando, an online shop selling mattresses from multiple brands. The business later created a dedicated Emma operation: in late 2015, Max Laarmann founded Emma Matratze GmbH as a Bettzeit subsidiary, and the Emma trademark had been registered that year. Emma’s mattress was conceived as a direct-to-consumer product built around a “one-fits-all” concept, intended to serve different body types. At the beginning of 2017, Bettzeit acquired the insolvent Dunlopillo Deutschland GmbH. The supplied German-language reference says its Alzenau production site was subsequently closed and the product assortment reduced. That year also marked Emma’s entry into brick-and-mortar retail: its mattresses began appearing at retailers including Butlers and Matratzen Concord. In 2019, Bettzeit discontinued the Dormando online shop and redirected substantial marketing investment toward Emma and Dunlopillo. In May 2020, Bettzeit GmbH began operating under the Emma Sleep name. In July of that year, the founders sold 50.01% of Emma Sleep GmbH to Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH while remaining managing directors and retaining the remaining shares at that time. The reference further says that, in connection with the later Dunlopillo sale, the founders sold an additional 4% of the company to Haniel. Emma Sleep therefore became a company with a majority shareholder while retaining founder participation. The company’s business expanded beyond mattresses to beds, pillows, duvets, and other bedroom products. The supplied reference describes an international business, with stores in Manila, Lisbon, Shanghai, and Mexico City, and products sold through more than 200 retail partners at over 3,000 points of sale in Germany. It says products are mostly manufactured and developed in Germany. The US website presents Emma as a global sleep brand and promotes a 100-night mattress trial, free shipping and returns, and a 10-year mattress warranty. Emma has also encountered criticism about delivery times and difficulty withdrawing from purchases. The German-language reference reports that consumer-protection bodies in Germany had observed such issues since 2022, and that UFC-Que Choisir in France advised against Emma mattresses in 2023 because of delivery and customer-service problems and temporarily excluded the brand from its tests. It reports that the organization reinstated Emma in March 2025 after complaints had decreased. Separately, the reference says Emma sold Dunlopillo Deutschland GmbH in October 2023. In mid-2024, Emma Sleep reportedly cut around 200 jobs worldwide, or about 18% of its workforce. The brand remains active.

• 2025

  UFC-Que Choisir reinstates Emma in tests

• 2024

  Worldwide workforce reduction reported

• 2023

  Dunlopillo Germany business sold

• 2020

  Bettzeit adopts Emma Sleep name

• 2020

  Haniel acquires majority stake

• 2019

  Dormando online shop discontinued

• 2017

  Dunlopillo acquired and Emma enters physical retail

• 2015

  Emma trademark registered

• 2013

  Bettzeit GmbH founded

An international, direct-to-consumer-origin sleep brand offering mattresses and a broader range of bedroom products, with online sales, retail partnerships, and customer-facing trial and warranty promises.

• Emma mattresses

  The brand’s core product, originally conceived as a direct-to-consumer mattress using an “one-fits-all” concept.

• Beds

  Part of Emma Sleep’s bedroom-product range.

• Pillows

  Sleep accessories sold under the Emma brand.

• Duvets

  Part of the company’s sleep and bedroom product assortment.

• Delivery and customer-service complaints

Read more

• Discontinued DormandoOther

• Adopted the Emma Sleep company nameOther

• Sold Dunlopillo Deutschland GmbHOther

1. 1Best Mattress in a Box 2024 – Emma®emma-sleep.com
2. 2Your Shopping Cart – Emma®emma-sleep.com
3. 3Emma Sleepwikidata.org
4. 4Emma Sleep (German Wikipedia)de.wikipedia.org